Senate OKs 'Jessica's Law,' death-penalty limit

Senate OKs 'Jessica's Law' with limits on death penalty

POLLY ROSS HUGHES, Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

Published
5:30 am CDT, Wednesday, April 25, 2007

AUSTIN — The Texas Senate passed its long-awaited "Jessica's Law" Tuesday to protect children from sexual predators, but it reserved the death penalty for those twice convicted of the most heinous child rapes.

The bill also creates a new offense for "continual sexual abuse" of a child, increases penalties for certain child sex offenses and removes the statute of limitations for victims of child sex crimes.

"I am confident that this legislation will help protect the safety of our children and send a clear message to those who would prey on them. Don't do it," said the bill's author, Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville.

The Senate's bill now returns to the House, where members can concur or call for a conference committee to work out differences.

The bill is named after 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford of Florida who was kidnapped, raped and buried alive two years ago, shocking the nation and prompting more than a dozen states to pass tougher child-predator laws.

"I know that by protecting our children, we protect the future of this great state," said Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

Deuell explained that the bill creates new categories of "super" aggravated assaults against children under age 14 that involve the use of a deadly weapon, alcohol or drugs, death threats, bodily injury, kidnapping or gang rape. The highest penalties are also reserved for raping a child under age 6.

A first conviction for any of the above would carry a minimum sentence of 25 years. A second conviction would result in life in prison without parole or death.

Dewhurst, who said he's "almost gotten tired of hearing all this talk about the death penalty," predicted that most prosecutors will opt for life without parole instead.

Lone dissenter

Sen.
Rodney Ellis
, D-Houston, the only dissenter in the 30-1 vote, said he's concerned about expanding the death penalty in Texas when DNA tests have exonerated several inmates who served time for crimes they didn't commit.

"All of us have to make tough choices, but at some point we have to know where to draw the line between what's politically right but morally wrong," he said.

He also pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1977 that the death penalty for the rape of a 16-year-old girl was unconstitutional because death should be reserved for murder.

If the high court rules the same in a Louisiana case involving rape of a young child, the Senate's bill would automatically revert death penalties to life without parole, Deuell said.

Like the House version of "Jessica's Law," the Senate created a new offense called "continuous sexual abuse" of a child under age 14. It applies to those who sexually abuse a child at least twice over a period of 30 days or more.

A first offense under both bills carries a minimum 25-year sentence without parole. A second offense would get life without parole in the Senate bill, but the House version could also result in the death penalty.

Facilitate convictions

District attorneys say the new offense will make convictions easier to obtain because children often have trouble remembering the exact dates of ongoing sexual abuse. Defense lawyers complain, however, that a jury would not have to unanimously agree on the facts of each alleged offense.

The Senate increased penalties for those forcing a child under age 14 into prostitution to a first-degree felony, carrying a sentence of five to to 99 years. Child pornographers preying on children under 14 would face stiffer, second-degree felonies, raising the maximum sentence from 10 to 20 years.

Current law states that the statute of limitations runs out on child sex offenses when the victim turns 28.

Deuell's bill lifts the statute of limitations entirely for sex offenses committed against children under the age of 17.